


A Way Out: But Gayer

by ChloeKilledJ



Category: A Way Out (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Death, F/F, F/M, M/M, Okay so this story is still about murder let's not get uppity, Self-Indulgent, Slow Burn, Third Person POV, Vague Past Abuse, Violence, it's a romcom now, these tags will continue to change, vague homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-04-21 00:09:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14272551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChloeKilledJ/pseuds/ChloeKilledJ
Summary: Leo prepared for a lot of things once he landed himself in prison, the first being that it was dire he kept his shit under wraps. Not just that he's gotta keep so far in the closet he can't recognize sunlight, but the breakout. One person finding out about an escape plan and suddenly everyone is gonna want in, and that just gets messy. He's on his own in here, and that was just fine. Until he met Vincent.Vincent wasn't entirely sure what to expect on the inside, he's done this a dozen times, but not anywhere like this. The prisoners were more concerned with establishing dominance than getting out, and considering it was an all-guy prison, there was plenty of easy ways to incite violence every other second. He had to keep his focus, but what happens when his focus loves throwing him off balance?





	1. Yes Sir, We Keep Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't played the game, obviously, spoilers, but you don't need to have played it to read this. If you have played the game, I promise it's not /just/ rewriting every scene, but /it is/ a lot of that. As the story moves forward there will be more branching off. My friend and I brainstormed our version of the story when we finished playing, and we both wanted it to be queer because we are. So, here I am, rewriting the game to be gayer out of spite. 
> 
> If you read this chapter before 4/18/18, it's gotten a huge face lift alongside chapter 2, I would highly consider rereading both.
> 
> Alright, shutting up. Enjoy.

Leo normally didn’t keep track of new fish, but by the commotion near the gates, he could tell a bus was just pulling in. He never understood what inmates got out of scaring them before they even got inside the building, but it always seemed to draw a pretty energetic crowd. Whatever it was, be it curiosity or boredom, he left his usual brooding spot on the bench to walk over too.  
  
Sure enough, a line of pretty average looking dudes. Half of which mostly likely murdered someone to end up here. The heckling around him got louder, someone on his left bumping into his shoulder with an explicative that was more unneeded than jarring. Leo sidestepped an inch further from him, and shouted without really looking up.  
  
“Hey can you fuckin’ watch it?”  
  
A mangled and tattooed face about a foot higher than his swiveled down, baring his teeth with a curt, “Shut the fuck up asshole.” Leo’s eyebrow twitched, the temptation to break his nose flaring. He considered their proximity and opted to just drop it. Maybe scarface just liked yelling. Fucking idiot.  
  
Leo leaned up against the gate, more sorry for the new guys than anything else. This place sucks. Most prisons probably aren’t actually swimming in this much dipshit, but leave it to Leo to get stranded in an all-male hell of actual assholes.

His eyes roll into the back of his skull at that. In the months since he’s been here, not one person had him even considering outting himself. He was afraid keeping it under wraps would be at least marginally more difficult, but it’s never been less relevant. Though he supposes prisoners aren’t usually the most romantic folks, really what was he expecting. Linda would probably laugh at him, and he wouldn’t blame her. God, he misses her. She hasn't been able to visit in a while, and Alex...  
  
Leo looked down again at the stragglers, expecting more of the same boring faces and brawny men, when his eye catches the last guy in line.  
  
Pretty uptight looking dude, meandering his way in. Clean cut beard, broad shoulders. Non-fucked-up face, well, as far as he can tell from this distance. He looks nice, real nice. Handsome, even. Put together in a worn leather jacket. It's a shame they’re gonna take it from him.

He doesn’t make out any more details before the stranger reaches inside the complex, but still. 

Interesting.

Leo smiles when he imagines Linda ribbing him for that. He shakes his head, odds are, new guy and him won’t exactly be hanging out anytime soon. But that doesn’t stop him from making a quick mental note.  
  
Scarface all but rams into his shoulder again and Leo bumps into the next prisoner over, who immediately turns to him with a snarl.  
  
“Hey Elvis, we got a fucking problem?” Leo feigns insult, hand over heart and all, when an idea strikes him.  
  
“No, but ugly over here says you’re a real dumbass.”  
  
Said ugly doesn’t see the punch that crunches into his jawline, but Leo sure laughs when he hears it as he makes his way back inside.  
  
Idiots, too easy.

* * *

Do they really have to use freezing water?

“Don’t you think that’s enough?”  
  
The amount of beration Vincent receives in the span of about ten minutes is almost comical. If you happened to find borderline torture funny. The hose firing at his back to clean him before he gets inside is floating somewhere in the negative degrees before it finally shuts off. Vincent tries his best to remain calm.  
  
He’s been in prisons before, but never anywhere this absolutely brutal. Just walking in was a horror show, and his constitution isn't exactly weak. For the most part Vincent knew what he was getting into. No one dumped this in his lap to take care of. But that doesn't mean he's looking forward to a potentially very, very long stay here. His eyes lift to the grim faces of his fellow prisoners, who all seem to be coming to the same conclusions as him.   
  
A guard uncomfortably slaps his wet back to get him moving as a set of clothes are shoved into his hands. Vincent stands in line with a few other buck-naked men as they get berated by yet another white guy in a suit. Quaint.

The inmate next to him gets hit in the stomach hard after asking, frankly, a reasonable and inoffensive question of the warden. Vincent grimaces. This place must be big on first impressions.

* * *

Immediate karma shoves Leo hard enough into a prison door that it leaves an indent in his back. One of Harvey’s goons intimidating him again, it’s like the fourth time this fucking week alone. While he was _fortunate_ enough that a guard was nearby to put a stop to it, Leo very much would have loved to get at least one hit in. He rubs at the bruise forming at the small of his back, cursing at just about everything within sight. He locks eyes with the asshole as he walks away. Normally Leo would count that as a win, but a bad feeling has already made its home in his gut. 

The pat-down outside the cell block is brief as always, and when Leo reaches his cell the guard all but shoves him inside, rougher than usual, which is really saying something.  
  
“Hey relax man!”  
  
“Close cell 48.”  
  
Leo’s hands nearly get caught in the door when it closes, and he suppresses a yelp as he gets caged in.  
  
“What’s your fucking problem?”  
  
“New neighbor, now shut up.”  
  
“Neighbor?” Leo’s eyes widen as he remembers his own cold trip up here, and he immediately goes to avert his gaze from the walkway. It’s real fucking humiliating how they don’t even let you change until you’ve found your cell.  
  
He’s a half-second too late, and he catches the inmates face, but it’s enough for Leo to consider looking up again. He doesn't, of course, but it's tempting.  
  
New guy, right next door.  
  
Interesting.

***

It’s the next day when Leo gets summoned to an admittedly, secluded part of the courtyard. It had all the signs of being a set-up, and he managed to miss every single one.  
  
Leo now finds his arms apprehended by a pair of goons helping the same burly asshole that shoved him into a door yesterday, and said asshole was making his picturesque mob-boss entrance now. Complete with villainous clapping and overdone accent. _Asshole._  
  
“Ah, there he is, our guest of honor.”  
  
The panic settles in quickly. He’s alone, and this guy is gonna kill him. His eyes dart between the three of them, and a fourth off to the side, and he feels his chest tighten. Of course they’d surround him. He looks to the people gathering outside the tennis court fence and he clicks his tongue, pissed. They’re here for the show. Leo can hold himself in a fight just fine, but really? Four on one?  
_  
_ Fuck. _  
_  
The sucker punch to his stomach knocks the wind out of him, and his panic swiftly morphs into anger.  
  
“What the fuck do you want?” Leo yells, trying to rip his arms free.  
  
“It’s not about what I want, it’s about what Harvey wants.”

* * *

Vincent is trying his best to be cordial with really, anyone literally at all, when he hears a commotion down on the courtyard. Standing around here getting told to fuck off has been just absolutely peachy so far, but he might as well be doing anything else.  
  
He wanders down to the fenced in area, a crowd huddled around the entrance, a dogpile of humans cheering on the proceedings. Vincent opens his mouth to ask what’s happening when someone grabs him, and then there’s another set of hands shoving him forwards through the gate.  
  
“New fish get in there! Show ‘em who’s boss tough guy!”  
  
“Fuck him up new guy! Take em down!”  
  
“Wait wait, what the hell, what are you doing?” Vincent panics as he stumbles into the middle of a fight, immediately trying to back away when it’s too late. Tall, burly, and bald turns to him with a yellowed row of busted teeth, and Vincent feels his heart drop.  
  
“Get him.”  
  
“Wait, what-FUCK.”  
  
A fist comes flying at him by some fool in a bandanna which Vincent just barely dodges, using the spare moment to land a punch in the guy's jaw almost on instinct. They recoil long enough that Vincent slams his knee into their face, and he tries not to think of the crunch that rings out.  
  
Bandanna tries to grab hold of his arm, but Vincent grabs a shoulder and slams his forehead into the bridge of their nose. They go down, hard, clutching their face in agony.  
  
Vincent takes a second to assess what the fuck he just got into. A slight man is punching the daylights out of an inmate twice his size across the way, and he intuits that said slight man is probably the reason this fight is happening at all. Big guy can't even get a hit on him, he's too busy trying to block slim jim's seemingly endless and furious blows. He sees the big guy spit blood. Little guy can definitely hold his own, that’s for sure. 

Vincent spins and blocks the punch that comes for his head, catching the goon off-guard and driving a booted foot into his stomach. It takes them out, and a third is now dancing around him, waiting for their moment. Alright, guess this is how it’s gonna be. 

He nearly swings around when another body connects with his back, but a glance behind him reveals it’s-Elvis? Kind of?  
  
He grins at Vincent, expression gleaming as he lands a kick on the much larger man from before. Vincent takes in a lot of information at once, none of it new and all of it surprising.  
  
Lean face, slick hair, nose currently swollen and a little big. He looks like a tough guy, but his expression just doesn’t match. And, neatly kept _sideburns?_ Where does someone even find a decent razor in prison? Are there even mirrors in here? _Who has the time?_  
  
“I’m Leo." His voice is alive, wired, eyes scanning him in an instant.   
  
“I’m, uh, Vincent?”  
  
And with that, Leo whips back around to block a hit. Vincent takes much longer than necessary to realize, oh yeah, they’re fighting? For some reason?  
  
A pasty gentleman lands a punch on Vincent’s sternum which thoroughly shakes him back into it. He shoves a knee into the guys stomach and a fist into his cheek before throwing him forwards into Leo-

Who just knocks him out cold, fist connecting with a vicious crack as he goes down.

“Shit, nice one!”

Leo looks back up, potentially to answer, when burly tackles him back to the ground. Vincent moves to jump back in when guards are rushing into the courtyard, blowing into their whistles and clamoring to pull them apart.

Leo is holding his side when the guard tells the assorted concussed goons to scram. He sees Burly shove into Leo as he leaves, who just shoots a glare back. When he walks up to Vincent he’s almost limping, and clearly trying not to make a show of it.

He holds a hand out to him with the same smile from before, which Vincent takes.  
  
“Hey, for real man, thanks for the backup.”  
  
Vincent blinks, and then cracks a cautious smile back.  
  
“Uh, it was no problem. What did you do to piss them off so bad anyways?”  
  
Leo laughs at that, but it’s bitter.  
  
“Nothing, that’s the best part.”

* * *

Leo is a little more jovial when he walks through the lunch line than was probably warranted. While the murder attempt wasn’t exactly a great omen, someone up there must be in his corner to hand-deliver new guy to him. Not insane, a natural in a fight, and wow, _biceps._

Linda, an ever integral part of his consciousness even when she’s not around, keeps teasing him. She’d have a field day making fun of him over this. But come on _,_ that face was _unfair,_ she couldn’t deny it if she tried. 

Grinning like an idiot while getting mashed potatoes slopped onto his tray probably has him looking a little unhinged, but it’s just been real shit in here. Finally there’s someone interesting in this hell house. He sighs, instantly regretting letting his train of thought travel that far as he proceeds to kill his own mood, because really.

That was nice and all, but that’s probably the last time he gets involved with his shit. He's just gotta focus up on the plan, slotting anyone else in now is just gonna make it messy. 

“HEY YOU HERE I COME!”  
  
Leo swivels around just barely in time to stop the knife, and finds himself backed onto the counter holding Burly’s arms away from his face, but the leverage is shitty and Leo panics.  
  
“Hey haven’t you had fucking enough for today?“ he barks into Burly’s face, which is inches above him and practically drooling at the thought of getting to knife Leo in the cafeteria.  
  
“Harvey wants you dead, and I’m gonna make sure it gets done.”  
  
“That asshole is just lucky he’s on the outside!”  
  
Burly manages to break one of his arms free and Leo braces for impact, when the weight over him disappears. He looks up to see that someone pulled him off.  
  
Leo’s eyes widen when he realizes.  
  
_“Vincent?”_  
  
Who is currently trying to pry the knife from Burly’s fingers.  
  
“Yeah, some help?” he says, through gritted teeth.  
  
“Oh, uh, yeah yeah, right!”  
  
Leo springs back into action, throwing a punching into Burly's jaw, knife falling to the floor as he fails to grab at Leo’s wrist. He shoves Vincent off of him instead, and another goon joins the fray.  
_  
_ A crowd is gathering, gotta draw him out. _  
_  
Leo bowls over the cafeteria counter and Burly follows. Leo swipes a pan hanging from the workstation and slams it into his face, grabbing him by the shoulders in the recoil and throwing him into the sink’s corner. He’s down for a few seconds, and Leo backs up and tries to reach for anything else he can use.  
  
Burly is faster, he pulls a knife from a wooden block and passes another to his friend across the kitchen. They must have chased Vincent in here too, because now they’re both being backed further inside. Leo feels the panic crawl up his throat again.  
  
“Walk away from this, it’s gonna land you in solitary,” he hears Vincent try to reason.  
  
“And what do you fucking care?”  
  
When Leo’s back connects with a set of bars on the other side, he blindly reaches for the latch he knows is there to let him out. The door opens and he falls backwards, but Burly is on top of him in an instant, knife still in hand.  
  
“Just fuck off man, you don’t have to do this!”  
  
“Shut up and die already!”  
  
He hears Vincent let out a grunt of pain and something about it pisses Leo off enough he just opts to punch Burly in the neck. He drops the knife, and the whistle of guards fill the room. It takes two of them to get him off of Leo, but it’s over.  
  
Vincent shoots Leo a look of relief as he tries to catch his breath, and the uniformed men beat the living crap out of Burly with a three-set of nightsticks. Vincent looks on vaguely horrified at the scene, but Leo just lets his head fall back, and laughs.

* * *

“Do I really need more of that? I hate needles.”  
  
“Don’t you have bigger things to worry about?”  
  
Well, she’s right.  
  
Vincent feels like he’s been put through a meat grinder. The pain meds the nurse gave him don’t seem to be doing much and his headache is splitting. Leo must be doing worse, considering they keep giving him shots. Granted they’re probably for tetanus. Or rabies. That guy looked borderline feral.  
  
Leo lets out a curse at the shot, and Vincent hides a snort at his melodramatics. The nurse leaves without a word, and Leo seems to be thinking something over before he turns around and raises a brow at him.  
  
“Why did you do that?” he's eyeing him, cautious.  
  
“Do what?”  
  
“Jump into a fight for a total stranger? Again.”

Curt, to the point. The question catches Vincent off guard.  
  
“Well the first time I didn’t have much choice. But I don’t really know, maybe I just got a taste for it?”  
  
That makes Leo laugh in earnest. He really is a lot less intimidating than he looks. Vincent laughs too, he isn’t sure why jumped in. He just remembers almost reactionary fear, and then his arms around that asshole to pull him away. Admittedly, finding a guard probably would have saved his stomach from looking like he’s been struck by several bowling balls, but Vincent finds he doesn’t regret it.  
  
“Well thank you, I’m pretty sure I would have died before a guard even saw what happened. So really, thanks.” Leo seems to pause before he takes a fairly dodgy look around the room. “Hey, you wanna help me out one last time?”  
  
Vincent’s feels his stomach turn, but ignores the immediate instinct to say no. “With our luck I have a feeling it won’t be the last, but let’s hear it.”  
  
Leo smiles.  
  
“I need something, and I just need someone to keep the nurse busy while I go get it.”  
  
Vincent looks out of the enclosed space, the half-windowed, half-walled area not providing much privacy or cover. The nurse is messing with some papers right outside, but he nods before he even realizes he’s agreed, “Easy enough, ready to go now?”  
  
Leo nods back, and Vincent presses the buzzer on the side of his bed. Pretty much the moment the nurse’s back is to Leo, he runs out of the room and Vincent has to stifle his laugh. It isn't until the nurse huffs, exasperated, does he realize he needs to invent a reason he called her over.   
  
“Well? What’s wrong?”  
  
“Oh I, I was just wondering how long I’d be in here.”  
  
“I’m not really in charge of that.”  
  
He sees Leo’s head pop out above the divider, and he points to somewhere behind Vincent. As nonchalantly as possible Vincent sits up, and takes a glance back through the windowed wall. A guard at his desk. Ah okay, got it.  
  
Vincent slams his head back into the window, once, loud, and the nurse blinks. The guard curses on the other side.  
  
“Are you okay?”  
  
The suit pipes up through the window.  
  
“Hey, what you doing? You made me spill my coffee!”  
  
“Uh, sorry. I…fell?” The words sound dumb to Vincent even as he’s saying them but as far as he’s concerned, he succeeded. Vincent watches in victory as the guard leaves to find something to clean his mess.  
  
“Did you need something from me?” the nurse asks, confused and also a little concerned, which okay, warranted. Vincent adjusts himself and grunts, pain shooting through his abdomen.  
  
“Ah, god, could you give me something else to take? My stomach is killing me, actually, scratch that. Just, everything hurts.”  
  
Vincent only half listens to her answer when Leo flies back in, laying down in his cot and hiding something under the blankets. The nurse hands him some pills to take and leaves, and Leo flashes him a another smile, which Vincent does his best to return despite the swelling in his jaw.  
  
There have been plenty of ways around getting directly involved with this guy’s shit. Even during that first fight he could have just ducked out when he got the chance. He probably would have considered it, until Leo literally bumped into him, eyes vibrant at the thought of having back-up. And then suddenly he wanted to fight. He didn't want the other guys to win.   
  
When they get let out, Leo takes something out of his shirt and tucks it onto a windowsill in the hall. They‘re about a dozen feet from where prisoners get pat down before entering the cell block, so smart move. Vincent and Leo meet eyes, and Vincent pretends not to notice.

* * *

Leo is outside doodling on a notepad when he distantly notices someone walking up to him, though he doesn’t really look up until he talks.  
  
“Wow, first time I’ve seen you out in the open while not getting our asses beat.”  
  
Leo laughs, putting the notepad and pencil aside, “Let’s make a habit of this, I like this better.”  
  
“Yeah, me too, ” Vincent crosses his arms and looks to Leo, point blank. “So, what are you planning?”  
  
Leo is genuinely confused for a few moments when realization hits, and he sighs.  
  
“You saw me stick my hand through the window.”  
  
“You’re not that subtle, and there wasn’t much else to see at the time.” Vincent smiles only a little bit smug, “So, what did you steal?”  
  
Leo is definitely not pouting at getting caught, all things considered, it could have been someone far worse who noticed. Like a guard, or any of Harvey's goons. Vincent seems like a solid guy, but trying to get someone else out too?   
  
Leo gives Vincent a once over.  
  
Someone like him?  
  
Ha, no.  
  
“Listen, I appreciate what you did back there, but this one is all me.”  
  
“I know you’re trying to break out. Considering the last few days, don’t you think you could use the help?”  
  
Leo gets a little sheepish at that, but less that he said it and more that he’s right. The last few days _have been_ more life-threatening than usual, and while having someone like Vincent could help, it still felt risky. Leo shoots him a deflecting smile, and tries talk his way out of it.  
  
“It’s nice to know you care, really, but I’ll be fine on my own.”  
  
“And what about Harvey?”  
  
Leo blinks. What?  
  
“What?”  
  
“Our chances are better if we work together, but I'm going after Harvey with, or without you.”  
  
Alright, well, that’s one way to get a guy’s attention. Leo finally stands up, crossing his arms and immediately defensive.  
  
“And why in the hell would you wanna do that?”  
  
Vincent looks away and there’s an instant pain on his face that almost makes Leo sorry he asked.  
  
“I said no to him, once." He breathed out, hand flexing at his side. "And Harvey killed someone close to me because of it.”  
  
Leo is silent, refusing to pry further at that. Harvey pulled some shit on him too, sure, but anything Leo ever did fell directly back on him first. This was just cruel. And also exactly like Harvey. Leo just keeps finding reasons to kill the bastard.  
  
“I’m sorry to hear that.”  
  
“No need, he's gonna pay.” Vincent doesn’t look back up at him right away, but when he does the anger is clear. “I’m sure you've got your reasons to bust out, but I have to get out too.”  
  
Well shit.

He’s dead serious about this. Enough to come find him again even after all the danger just being around Leo caused. Harvey's got a bad streak, Leo knew that. It's what screwed him from the start. But Vincent, man. He probably didn't know what he was getting into. No one ever does, and maybe that's why Leo's gut instinct is to trust Vincent. 

Despite that, alarm bells are sounding off inside of him. Reminding him that getting anyone else involved is sure to make things complicated. Others yelling that despite Vincent having his back these last few days, they’ve only just met. The worst of them remembering what happened the last time he trusted someone who wasn't Linda. His heart clenches. Motive or none, it's a risk.   
  
But Vincent is kind, and determined. He can fight well and his goal is identical. He's also handsome as hell, but Leo is trying real hard to stop thinking with his dick. At least this one time.  

Tactically, Harvey is gonna be a tough target. Trying to take down what’s sure to be an army protecting him, single-handedly, just doesn't pan out. Most of Leo’s connections on the outside aren’t going to be much use considering none of them got involved with Harvey. Especially if he skipped state or worse, country. He concedes, going it alone isn't going to work. Maybe this won't be so bad.   
  
Vincent holds out his hand with an almost hopeful look, a half-grin breaking across his features. Leo shoves a final worm of anxiety back down, and takes his hand, smiling back.  
  
“Alright yeah, let’s do this. One condition,” The look Leo shoots him is non-combative, but not exactly warm. “It’s my plan, and I decide how it goes down.”  
  
“Yeah sure, I don't have any ideas anyways.”  
  
The alarms in Leo’s head are still going off, albeit quieter. It's enough that he feels it necessary to demand some reassurance. Leo intimidates people often, usually without remorse or second thoughts. It came with the job. But this time, he almost feels bad when he has to do it. Almost.

He cracks his knuckles as he steps a little far into Vincent's personal space, who immediately tries to back up in vain. Leo grabs Vincent by the shoulder and pulls him damn close, digging his fingers into his skin hard. He leaned forward until his face was inches from Vincent's, who shrank back, eyes wide.  
  
“But I'm gonna set one thing straight.” Leo said, sharp, testing. “You fuck anything up, and we're gonna have a problem." His grip tightened as he spoke, forcing Vincent to keep close. "Because I'm not getting stuck back in here again. We clear?"  
  
Vincent pales, “Crystal. I, yeah I got it.”  
  
Leo lets go, satisfied as he scoops up his notepad while the other man is reeling. Vincent is still static when he speaks up again.  
  
“So, do you have a plan yet?”  
  
“Yeah, I think I got a way out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I had to. I do intend to rewrite this entire game and yes, as we move forward I'm gonna break from the existing narrative more and more. This is mostly for myself, but comments and kudos are gonna keep me going as I embark on this personal project. Overall the story is gonna sit at around ten chapters, which maths out to like 30-45 minutes of gameplay each. Leave reviews/criticisms, tell your friends. See you soon.


	2. They Will Run You Down, Down Til You Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo conquers a fear. Vincent ignores his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read either this or the first chapter before 4/18/18, you really might wanna give them another look. I rewrote a lot of both because now I have a beta and they're doing the lord's work by pulling better writing out of me. They wanna stay anon so, let's call em Zer0. Plot hasn't exactly changed, but the tonal difference is stark. Formal apology to everyone who saw my over-excited first drafts, gonna do better moving forward.

“C’mon, I’ll boost you up.”  
  
“I’m sorry, what?”  
  
“You gotta go get it, I have to be here when the guard gets back.”  
  
Vincent has to refrain from raising an eyebrow at that, it’s really a good catch, they would have gone looking for him since he’s the one that snapped his broom in half. Which, while a good distraction, Vincent has no idea why the guard bought that it just “broke”.  Leo leans up against the crate and offers a hand, and he doesn’t think about how oddly ballroom it looks.  
  
Vincent finds he’s been doing a lot of ignoring as of late.  
  
He reaches the windowsill with ease, grabbing the chisel off the ledge and sneaking his way around the worksite while Leo keeps the guards busy. He even sees one of the suits laugh at something he said.

Vincent's known people like Leo before. Those larger than life guys who can make their voice carry through a crowded room. The way they always stand out from their surroundings, from the people they walk by. An immediate kind of familiarity Vincent can’t really seem to define. Whatever it is, it radiates off of him. The roof is hot, the tar smell is overwhelming, and the rest of the prisoners still take a pause while the guards joke with him.  
  
And in the evening sunlight, knowing Vincent’s got their ticket out? Leo is just glowing.

***

He knew the chamberpots in their cells were bare-bones, but he wasn’t expecting absolutely nothing to be connecting them to the wall. He’s halfway through chiseling out the back panel when he calls out,  
  
“Leo, how did you know about this?”  
  
“They’re basically made out of tinfoil, call it a lucky guess. You’ve got 30 seconds before the guard gets too close again.”  
  
“I can make it,” He actually has no idea if he can, but the red-light-green-light is getting annoying.  
  
Vincent is met with a silence he’s sure Leo used to roll his eyes. Vincent takes a final stab into the concrete and kicks down the panel, bringing the chamberpot back up against the wall all in the same movement. Not ten seconds later, and exactly on time, a guard flashes a light into his cell.    
  
“Go the fuck to sleep, and stop making noise.”  
  
They leave a few seconds after lights out. After crawling their way through the now-open hatches behind their toilets, which, god, should not have been possible, they come across an easily 40 foot drop to the floor below. Vincent searches for something against the edges they could maybe hold onto, a pipe, a switchbox, anything, but there’s nothing close enough.  
  
“Fuck, that’s a long way down man,” Leo said, shuffling a little further than probably necessary from the ledge.  
  
Vincent clicks his tongue, “Alright yeah, this sucks. So what now?”  
  
He sees the gears in Leo’s head turning, and when he runs down the hallway to a vent near the ground, Vincent follows. Letting Leo play leader as always.

He considers addressing that, but the urge quickly subsides. It hasn't reached anywhere near danger zone, not even close. He doesn't really anticipate it becoming an issue either. He agreed that he'd be strictly following along. Not for lack of ability to contribute, it just hasn't been necessary. So he'll follow. Simple.   
  
Leo points down through the vent, bringing him out of thought. “Guard’s office near the laundry room, where they sort sheets and send em out. We get inside here, we can toss some up through the bars.”  
  
They find themselves with a job shift the following afternoon. No idea what Leo does to get things moving so quickly, but it’s probably better he doesn’t know. The room smells of clean linen and wet metal, with hints of burnt fabric since some of the prisoners working here must have never ironed in their lives. Vincent already wasn't sure what he'd need to do once he got here, but the plan ended up being little more oddball than Vincent really knew how to handle.

Leo just knocked a guy out cold, and now he’s hiding in a laundry cart. Vincent’s sides _hurt_ from laughing.  
  
“Leo, oh god,”  Vincent’s face is warm, “Gimme a minute, I can’t take you seriously.”  
  
“Man come on,” he can hear Leo’s smile in his voice even before he pops out from under the lid, “Let’s just get going asshole.”  
  
He looks like a child in pillowfort, or a shopping cart. He shoved someone in a closet to get this cart and then he climbed inside. To be quite frank, who the fuck just does that?  
  
“Leo,” Vincent is trying to stop laughing, he swears, “There’s, there’s no way this is going to work.”  
  
“They barely check, grab some sheets off the table and I’ll hide under them.”  
  
Vincent does as he says with little further complaint, but the second he lifts the lid up again and meets eyes with Leo buried in sheets, neither of them can help it. He's like a toddler. It’s ridiculous. Leo bursts out laughing too, and they’re both gone, desperately trying to keep their voices down in vain.  
  
About a dozen sheets later and he’s entirely covered. It takes longer than warranted for Vincent to stop his giggling, but he does manage to squash it down long enough. He realizes that that was probably the hardest he's laughed in a good long while. He gets the feeling it's been the same for Leo, it was easy to fall into. 

As predicted, the guard at the exit only opens the cart for a second before pushing it through to the office.  
  
Vincent breaks a washing machine. He’s not proud of it, but it didn't take much effort. No one saw him throw a big metal paint can inside. He doesn’t know if he should be grateful no one is paying attention or further concerned for his general safety.  
  
Leo lets him into the guard’s office during the diversion, and on his insistence they push what feels like a hundred sheets through the bars.

***

They sit there a while in the silence, tying sheets together. Vincent tries to ignore the pang of awkwardness that keeps beating against his skull to say something, but Leo looks...really focused.  
  
Now that he’s noticed, Vincent doesn’t really stop noticing. Leo triple checks every knot he ties, pulling at them a little aggressively to see if they’re sufficient before moving onto the next one. It’s a kind of methodical job Vincent wasn’t expecting from him. Obviously Vincent isn’t blowing through his own half, he’s checking his own too, but what Leo’s doing looks like overkill. It’s kinda funny, seeing how worried this is making him.  
  
There he goes with that again. It’s everything Leo does now. It’s catching things Vincent doesn’t see, it’s climbing into laundry carts, and it’s triple checking sheets with a look of consternation that’s simply unnecessary. There’s always something else, and then his brain wraps back around to Leo intimidating him when they first formally spoke. After the fights, and the brief moment of familiarity in the infirmary. The courtyard. The clear and unapologetic promise of violence he pulled out of thin air at the mere threat of him ruining his escape plan. Vincent doesn't scare easily, but that experience wasn't exactly fun. Leo exists in a constant state of juxtaposition, and it's all around unsettling.  
  
Yeah, unsettling might actually be the best word for it. Like seeing a shark smile, every row of jagged teeth visible but it hasn't bitten you. Yet.   
  
They finish their work mostly in silence, and Leo nervously watches as Vincent ties one end to the bars and drops the rest over the ledge. That’s when it clicks.  
  
“You’re not a fan of heights, are you?”  
  
“Not…really.”  
  
Like a lot of things these past few days, it’s too easy. And maybe Vincent likes testing his luck. So once Leo starts climbing down Vincent does it.  
  
“Let’s hope these sheets hold together then.”  
  
“Woah, wait, what do you mean?” his voice wavers in a funny way when he says it. Got him.  
  
Vincent snorts, “Well, they’re just sheets.”  
  
Leo is silent for a moment before he barks out, “Shut up. I checked every knot.”  
  
“Ya’know, I don’t really remember if I did…”  
  
He hears Leo slide down the sheet rope a lot faster at that, and Vincent can’t hold back his smile. He doesn’t know why he does it. Could just be getting even, if only just slightly.  
  
They find a small storage room and lift a large grate off the floor. The light from the florescents up here showing a short drop, and nothing else in clarity.  
  
“It’s pitch black, we should probably try and find a light up here before we head-”  
  
And there goes Leo, accompanied by a splash and the sound of something banging against metal.  
  
“Ow, shit!”  
  
Vincent leans over to see where Leo dropped to, but finds, like he’s mentioned, that he really can’t make out anything at all.  
  
“You okay?”  
  
“Uh, yeah. We need a light, can’t see shit down here.”  
  
“I know. I’m pretty sure I was telling you that before you decided to jump down anyways,” The eye roll was nigh unstoppable.  
  
He’s pretty sure he hears Leo grumble something before he calls back, “Just find a light asshole.”  
  
There’s that charm. Vincent pinches the bridge of his nose, takes a breath, and finds a damn flashlight.

* * *

It smells like shit in here. Mostly because it is shit, which admittedly, Leo kinda forgot. Vincent has to grab his shirt collar from across a pipe to keep him from walking directly into it, again. Considering they landed in completely different spots, Leo is just thankful Vincent was down here to notice in time. He brought a light with him too, and directed him out of the lower level he more or less slid into. It doesn't take long before they find the gate leading to the maintenance tunnels. 

It's a few minutes of stilted silence as they navigate through, largely uninteresting but far from actual quiet. The metal pipes groan around them not unlike horror flicks do just before the monster shows up, sound reverberating off the concrete and echoing down the passageways. The sound of running water and rats in the distance don't exactly help his nerves either. Logically, Leo is aware nothing is down here with them. But if Vincent notices Leo is a walking little closer than what might be necessary in the tight space, he doesn't say anything about it. 

They reach a few dead ends in a row, the rest of the halls blocked by heavy metal grates, largely rusted over but still stubbornly standing. They backtrack nearly a dozen times, but eventually clear a molded intersection, finding a set of double doors to bust down. Like clockwork, they slam their shoulders into it together and break it open with ease. Leo tries not to laugh as he watches Vincent rub at his shoulder with mild discomfort. Serves him right for being a prick earlier. 

It leads to another dead end. Or, well, Leo thought. Vincent tells him to look up, and Leo really wishes that he hadn't 

“Oh fuck, it’s too high man,” Leo palms a hand over the cement wall, eyeing the several story height, “How the hell we gonna make that climb?”  
  
“Here, give me your arm.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I’ve got an idea, turn your back against mine.”  
  
Pretty much the second Leo does so, he recognizes said idea, and a brand new kind of anxiety spikes through him in a way that is unforgiving at best. He feels the nausea settle in his stomach as he looks up into the shaft, stretching far into darkness above him.  
  
There’s no fucking way he’s doing this.  
  
“There’s no fucking way I’m doing this.”  
  
Leo is 100% sure that was a snort before Vincent speaks. “It’ll be fine, I used to do this all the time as a kid.”  
  
Leo is definitely not jittery, not even a little bit. Fuck anyone who thinks he might be. He’s the only one of them with any common sense right now. Which yeah, ain't regular, but that's gotta say something about what they’re doing. The height is several stories. It makes the drop they just roped down look like street curb.  
  
“No, no, man it’s way too high,” Leo tries to pull his arms away but Vincent clamps down on them.  
  
“It’s okay,” he wobbles on the phrase like he’s trying not to laugh and it’s not helping. “I’ve never had a problem doing it before, remember to push against me and we’ll be up there in no time.”  
  
“I’m, I don’t think...”  
  
Vincent breathes out, and Leo can feel it against his back. He tries to zero in on that sensation while Vincent talks, anything to keep grounded.  
  
“It’ll be easiest if we try and move at the same time, we’ll take it slow. I promise, we’re gonna be fine. Besides, we can’t sit here all night.”  
  
Leo can’t really argue that, so he tries his best to calm down. That spike of fear is still very much there, but they start their trek upwards regardless. It’s slow going, achingly slow, but Vincent doesn’t comment on the speed. Leo doesn’t focus on the drop under him that’s steadily growing bigger and bigger. He doesn’t focus on how brief a fall to his death right now would be. And he definitely doesn’t focus on how long he’d be in solitary if he survived the fall and guards found them.  
  
He focuses on Vincent. He focuses on the feeling of his back against his, about the slow and steady pace and the small words of encouragement Vincent repeats to keep him from spiraling into his fear. He thinks of finally getting out of prison because he’s bested this one dumb thing. He thinks of the strong arms wrapped around his own, and Vincent’s steady breathing. He tries to relax into the repetition. It’s very, very difficult, but eventually, he does.  
  
“H-hey..this. This uh, isn’t so bad.”  
  
“Like I told you, we got this.”  
  
It’s a few more feet left to go when Leo’s boot slips.  
  
“Vin-Vincent wait,” he’s falling forward almost before he realizes and he slams a palm against the wall to steady himself.  
  
“Leo don’t look down, step up and I’ll grab your arm again.”  
  
Too late, way too late. Leo got a good look at the drop under them and the nausea comes back full force, a sweat breaking out all over his body as the world elongates like a cartoon below him.  
  
“Oh god I’m gonna hurl.”  
  
“No you’re not, Leo, look up. You’re gonna be fine. We're almost there, but you have to move.”  
  
The arm still wrapped around his squeezes tightly. Leo bites down hard on the inside of his cheek, and moves.  
  
The second the ledge is within reach Leo lunges for it, which Vincent must have been expecting since he does the same. Leo lays down on his side, trying to slow down his heart. Fuck, that was awful. That was more awful than awful. That was the worst thing Leo has ever voluntarily done.  
  
Vincent is eyeing the grate above them, running a hand over the edges.  
  
“Hey Leo, lemme know when your breathing evens out.”  
  
“Shut up, I’m fine.”  
  
“Well you’re not, so let me know when you’re calm again.”  
  
Okay. Fair. Leo’s heart is beating unreasonably fast. He takes a second to let his breathing even out. He doesn’t sit up right away, and when he does he scoots as close to the wall as possible, hugging his legs.    
  
“Yeah okay, I’m fine. What.”  
  
Vincent has the good graces to at least look sorry when he says it.  
  
“We need a wrench.”

* * *

Leo’s legs are still sore, and he’s in no fucking mood for Benny’s bullshit today. He’s always been the go-to guy to get job changes fast, since all the guards seem to love him for some reason. But apparently since their last switch was only three days ago, he's not too happy about putting in another request.  
  
“Listen, I’ll find you some smokes later. I’ll find you a whole pack if you want, but I need this job change today. Can you fucking do it or not?” Benny’s a jumpy one. Maybe he should have expected this.  
  
“C’mon man, you can’t be swapping out duties like that, don’t you think someone’s gonna wonder what’s up?”  
  
Leo rubbed his hand over his face. “No, I really don’t think anyone is paying attention.”  
  
Benny’s eyes dart to several spots behind Leo before they reach him again, “Okay yeah, two packs by tomorrow, and I can get you in there by noon.”  
  
Leo breathes a sigh of relief, finally.  
  
“Thanks Benny, I promise this is the last time.”  
  
Benny laughs. “That’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one, but okay.”

Leo can’t help but laugh too, if only he knew. He also immediately tosses out the mental note to find Benny smokes, if all goes well, he’s not gonna be here tomorrow. 

“What’s up with you and 48 anyways?”  
  
“What, Vincent?”  
  
“Yeah, you two have been hanging out every time I’ve seen you. I’m surprised he’s not here with you now.” Benny eyes him a little odd. “You related?”  
  
Leo snorts, “I’m not sure I can look more Italian Benny, no, we’re not related.”

"Funny. You guys got real chummy real fast."

“Yeah? And what the fuck does that mean.”

Benny shrugs, throwing an ugly grin at him. “Apparently, something.”

Leo freezes. There’s no way Benny knows about the plan. Obviously. They’ve been so, so careful. And Benny’s a fucking idiot. So no, that’s not what has Leo’s fist curling up, itching for a swing. That’s not why Leo breathes out hard instead, forcing a blank expression with every cell of his body. Or reminding himself that Benny doesn't actually know, because he wouldn't. What’s got him so panicked is that Benny's a fucking prick.

He’s had to deal with this before. It’s funny how depending where you are, either people won’t care or they’ll go for your throat for standing too close. And ya'know what? Usually that second one. That second one has been such fucking fun in the past too. He’s done a damn good job of hiding it in here, and whether that’s fortunate or not maybe he never wants to find out. But this is the first time anyone’s ever even implied it. And it pisses Leo the hell off.

Because it’s always gotta be a fucking dig, don’t it?

“Shut up Benny, you don’t know shit.”

Alright, not much better than punching him, which, fuck. Would have been nice. But he did just ask for a favor, and even Leo’s not that impulsive. Even if only fucking barely.

“Hey relax man, I’m just joking.”

“Yeah? How come I’m not laughing.”

* * *

For the record, he hasn't been here for very long. 

Vincent completely forgets about the patdown before entering the cell block. He's lucky Leo's been on the inside for a while, yanking him back from the doorway before the guard saw him walk in. They find a vent to slide the wrench through, and they make it by without any issues. But damn, that was stupid. Vincent can admit that much, but at least Leo's got the wrench, and that didn't go nearly as south as it could have.  
  
He runs to his cell when the warden calls for a shakedown. Wordlessly leaning up against the wall he shares with Leo, he holds out a hand out for the wrench when it comes. He doesn’t think about how natural that was, he just doesn’t think about it.  
  
He shoves it behind the chamberpot, and says nothing when the guard searches his cell next.

***

Vincent's been sitting in the visiting area for about 45 minutes when a woman walks in. He glances up in hope but quickly realizes its not her, considering she barrels into Leo situated across the room. He looks at her like she built the stars and her arms are wrapped around his neck as he pulls her close. Vincent assumes they kiss, but honestly he can't really watch any more of that. He's tired, and melancholy that washes over him he amounts to the realization that no one is coming. A guard tells him that was the last visitor of the day, and Vincent takes the offer for a phone call. 

It rings for a while before a familiar voice answers.  
  
_“Vincent?”_  
  
“Carol...where are you?”  
_  
_ _“I’m at home? Expecting our baby? You should be here too.”_  
  
“You know that I have to take care of the Harvey situation."  
_  
_ _“You’re in prison Vincent, and even if you weren’t."_  He hears her sigh over the line, _"I know you miss him, but_ _can’t bring Gary back.”_  
  
A deep part of Vincent is fully aware, and he doesn’t expect her to understand at all. He reaffirms his point, trying one last time anyways.  
  
“I have to do this. It’s just a little bit longer.”  
  
_“You’re going to get yourself killed.”_  
  
“I thought you were gonna come see me, I’ve been waiting for you for almost an hour.”  
  
He hears her sigh on the other end. It stings  
  
_“Vincent, I just don’t have the energy to do things like that right now.”_  
  
“I thought,” it makes Vincent’s throat hurt to say it, but he does because he has to, “I thought Joseph was...helping you out.”  
  
She fumbles over her answer. _“Vincent wait, I didn't mean-”_  
  
“Carol please, just tell me he’s looking after you, I need to know that someone is there.”  
  
He’s met with silence, before a quiet and resounding, _“Yes, yes he is.”_  
  
“Good, I’m glad,” and then, “Carol, I’m sorry too.”  
  
_“It’s on both of us. Walking back from this is hard, I’m still not sure I know how to and I still don’t think I understand how fine you are with it.”_  
  
He’s not. Watching Leo and his wife hug seemed to prove as much, considering how quickly he found that he really couldn’t do that. But telling her that won’t help, and he knows it, so he doesn’t.  
  
“It’s just, something we’re gonna have to work on.” He forces the smile into his voice, it takes more effort than it should.  
  
He can tell she’s not saying something, he can hear her tapping her fingers on the mantle, so he waits. It’s another few seconds of patient silence when she lets it out.  
  
_“Did you do it because of me?”_  
  
The irony of the question sends him reeling. He wants to tell her yes, to admit he did it to get away. To avoid coping with how much this broke him, that he's still not sure what is best for either of them anymore. That's he's not sure he's ever going to. But he doesn’t know how. He steels himself before he answers, picking his words as plain and deliberately as he can manage.  
  
“I did it because I didn’t know what else was left. And it was a bad call,” he debates saying it, but he does. “Carol, I love you.”  
  
She’s quiet for a while, and he’s not sure if when she finally says it back, if it helps or hurts.

***

Vincent doesn’t have much appetite after that. Leo comes find him in the cafeteria later that evening, eyes darting around them and mentioning the storm tonight. It’s not an odd thing to see inmates do, keeping an eye out for guards, but it’s an odd thing to see Leo do. Vincent assumes he’s just jumpy, now that they’re so close to getting out, but it’s uncomfortable. Which is a new thing for them, for him.  
  
“You uh, you doing alright?”  
  
He doesn’t seem to be paying much attention. “I, what? Yeah, I’m fine.”  
  
“You sure? Because you look just about ready to run out the door.”  
  
Leo furrows his brows at that. “What? No no, I’m totally okay. Just..nervous. Ha, I think being in here just gets me like that now.”  
  
Oh yeah, Leo was almost murdered in here barely two weeks ago. That would probably keep anyone’s head on the swivel. Vincent decides to change the subject, immediately, but Leo beats him to it.  
  
“I’m sorry whoever you were waiting for didn’t come by, I know that’s rough.” He blanks, he really didn’t think anyone would notice.  
  
“I appreciate that, I still got to talk to her over the phone." Vincent scoops a spoon of peas, but spills them back onto the dish, uninterested. "Would have been nice to see her, though."

"Was she, is she your wife?" Leo's eyes are soft, voice quiet. Ginger, even. 

“Yeah, at least I still hope so. Her name is Carol.”  
  
He’s amazed that he voices that, he's pretty sure he hasn't even said it to himself yet. But it just fell out, it felt okay. His guard's been down for the past couple of days, their reliance on each other hasn't necessarily gone unnoticed. Maybe he shouldn't be surprised. Some vague semblance of camaraderie was to be expected when the alternatives were stilted phone calls and bitter silence. But still, it felt okay, and he makes a mental note to decipher that later. Vincent doesn't expect Leo to probe further, and a part of him wishes he would. He changes the subject. 

“Who came to see you?”  
  
Leo smiles at his food, a dumb grin spreading as he pokes through a cube of meat with his fork.  
  
“My Linda, she hasn’t gotten a chance to visit in a while, we’ve both been hiding out from Harvey. She finally found a place to stay safe so she came in to see me. Sucks she can’t bring my little Alex in too, I miss him like hell.”  
  
That throws him for a loop. “You married and got a kid? No shit.”  
  
Leo hesitates, and for a half second, Vincent could swear he spots something inscrutable flash across his features before it’s gone, and his smile is back.  
  
“Yeah, something like that.”  
  
Vincent is about to ask what the hell that means when a guard smacks a nightstick against the table leg.  
  
“Hey lovebirds, the caf is closing. Get back to your cells.”  
  
Leo looks away, the usual crackshot reply nowhere to be found. Vincent watches him dump his food and walk out, mind moving at about a thousand miles a minute.

***

Vincent isn’t blind, and he can be upfront when it counts. The arms, broad shoulders, the slim hips. He’s got that newbie boxer silhouette most people can only hope for. What bothers him is he’s not sure why he's noticed at all. Leo just happens to be this high energy, incredibly open, decent looking guy. Or really, child, most of the time. Which is fine. They spend too much time together. It's hard to not notice irrelevant, pointless things about someone when you see them so often. It's fine. Dammit.   
  
He wouldn't even be thinking about it now if following Leo’s dumb ass through a vent left anything else to pay attention to. But Vincent can keep burying this, whatever it is. This amorphous idea that Leo might be an okay person. He can bury that. He’s a professional at burying things and this is just one more thing. The goal is still killing Harvey. To getting back home and fixing things with Carol and figuring out how to live a normal life again. To finishing this and never looking back.

Something not unlike guilt is trying to budge it's way to the surface before he shoves it far, far, far down, because that's where it belongs. Vincent's eased up these past few weeks, he'll admit it. But Leo is still dangerous. Breaking out and finding Harvey is still dangerous. He's not going to make that mistake again.  
  
Leo jumps to the floor, and holds a out a hand to help Vincent down too, smile on his face genuine and excited. The resolve doesn't crumble, not even slightly, but still.

Dammit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skipping through scenes that are only interesting during gameplay (and not so much while reading) but are necessary to set tone, location, and plot in a literary sense is hard. Translating an existing game to a heavily-amended novelization without writing it like a script is also hard. Cut me some slack for trying but if you've got critiques/advice I really do wanna hear it. Also I actually really love sharks but Jaws came out in 1975 and we are well aware of the bad rep it left behind. 
> 
> Comments & kudos keep me alive <3


	3. Am I Coming Out Of Left Field?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One guard, gun drawn. Leo is on the ground complying.
> 
> Vincent doesn’t think, he just moves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 1 & 2 got some fucking FACE LIFTS because now I have! A Beta! If you read them before 4/18/18 you might wanna check them out. No major plot stuff changes, but you get a lil more into their heads. I also edited. A whole bunch of shit. To sound less bad. I’m gonna be honest here folks, I am winging it. Overarching story is amorphous and ever-changing but fanfiction is all about having fun and messing around anyways. Sorry for the long hiatus and short chapter, work got in the way of my free time to write. Which I'm sure it will do again. Wanted to post this anyways because I think it did exactly what I wanted it to do.
> 
> Also, thanks for all the super kind words!!! It’s been really wonderful hearing back from folks. Y’all are cool as hell, enjoy this gay nonsense.

“Leo for fucks, sake keep your head down.”  
  
He didn’t respond to that, he knew what he was doing dammit. Vincent can hiss all he wants but it’s not Leo’s fault guards keep getting close at the worst moments. The searchlight sweeping across the compound is slow enough that he keeps just barely missing it, but they’re moving forward. It’s fine. They’re doing fine. Shut up Vincent.  
  
Leo ducks against another crate and huffs. Vincent rolls his eyes as he runs up right next to him, peering around the edge for the right moment. The searchlight swings far left, and they’re shrouded in darkness again.  
  
“Alright, let’s move.”  
  
It’s several slow and anxious minutes, but eventually they reach the base of the watchtower. Leo wraps his hands around the rusted ladder rungs and climbs. He pauses on the last step, peeking over the edge.  
  
A windowed office, and one guard. Leo cracks his knuckles. Easy.  
  
Vincent audibly winces. “Just, god. Don’t kill him.”  
  
“Haven’t killed anyone yet.”  
  
“Gonna be honest. Don’t really believe you.”  
  
“Yeah? Sounds like a you-problem.”  
  
Leo pulled himself up and moved, footsteps silent even on the metal floor as years of muscle memory kick in. He tries not to think about when things like this became second nature. When his anxiety became reserved for heights and needles. How he doesn’t think twice when he fights, when he has to subdue.  
  
He ignores that it bothers him Vincent brought it up at all. Fuck that.  
  
With a practiced ease he pulls the guard into a headlock, arm pressing into his windpipe until he goes down. He watches their chest take labored breaths, and can’t suppress the overdone smile he shoots at Vincent. Who rolls his eyes. Again.  
  
“Do that too much and they’ll fall out.” Leo says, trying the office handle. Nice, unlocked.  
  
“Stop causing it then if you’re so concerned.” Vincent grouses, brushing past him and nudging at the guard on the floor.  
  
“What?” Leo eyed inside before electing to just walk in, “Want me to ask him all nice to leave next time?”  
  
Vincent doesn’t answer, he’s still outside on the balcony edge when he taps on the window into the office.  
  
“There’s a powerline out here, leads straight to a radio tower building near the woods. See if there’s something in there we can use to get across.”  
  
There’s not much in here. A pile of cards, a desk fan, some really crappy looking romance novel, a coatrack, some hangers...  
  
Coat hangers?  
  
Leo tries to break one over his leg, and it doesn’t snap. Perfect.  
  
He heads out and hands one over to Vincent, who shoots a confused look at him in response. Which quickly morphs into understanding. Leo thinks for a half-second he might have just impressed him.  
  
“Leo, I know you probably haven’t thought of it yet. So I’m just not gonna say it.”  
  
Well what the hell does that mean?  
  
“And what the hell does that man?”  
  
Vincent takes a glance outwards but immediately looks back.  
  
“Yeah no, let’s just go.”  
  
Leo shrugs and swings a leg over the guardrail, hands wrapped around the hanger as he holds it over the line. He’s adjusting his grip when it hits him.  
  
Fuck. They’re really high up, aren’t they?  
  
“Wait, maybe we don’t-“  
  
Leo holds in a yell as a pair of hands shove at his back. He swears he hears a quiet, “Sorry,” just before the wind starts whipping around him and the world is moving too damn fast. The ground stretches out below him and Leo’s stomach lurches. Stop looking down. Look at anything else. Anything anything anything else-  
  
He looks back at Vincent.

The grouch is laughing, beaming at Leo with the biggest smile. His chest suddenly feels light, and Leo exhales a shaking breath and starts laughing too. He turns back ahead, grin wide and fear fading. The building is swiftly approaching and he’s still too far up, but the rain is light and the air is cool and Vincent’s laughter is carrying through the breeze.  
  
And in a moment it’s over. His shoulder slams into the bottom of the radio tower, and he lands on his feet. He gazes back over the distance and can’t hold back his smile as Vincent starts his descent.  
  
He swipes a hand through his hair, still smiling. He looks up to see that they both are.  
  
A metallic sound rings out.  
  
Leo’s heart drops.  
  
And so does Vincent.  
  
He looks up and just barely snatches the now-dead line out of the air as it tries to follow Vincent down the side of the building.  
  
He wraps the wire around his hand and backs further onto the roof and he’s hoping to whatever dumbass god is out there that Vincent isn’t tangled or something, what else he doesn’t even know. Please please please be okay.  
  
He backs up to the tower and grabs on for leverage, arms straining as he holds his end of the line with a white knuckled grip. Vincent shouts over the side and his voice is desperate.  
  
“Leo wait-“  
  
“I’m not going anywhere, but you have to fucking move,” The rubber coating of the line is hot in his hand. He breathes out hard as his shoulders threaten to pull out of their sockets, muscles straining to hold together. He feels the line tug, and knows Vincent is climbing, relief washing over him like a safety blanket. Even if temporary.  
  
He recoils when suddenly there is too much goddamn light, and a distant alarm sounds seconds afterwards. Fuck.  
  
The searchlight.  
  
The line pulls a lot more frantically in response, and Leo knows he doesn’t have to tell Vincent twice to hurry up. He does anyway, the panic overtaking him.  
  
“Leo please-“ his voice is desperate. It’s not like Leo couldn’t fucking figure why so cuts him off.  
  
“Just fucking climb.”  
  
A gunshot rings out and Leo just forgets the tower entirely, grabbing onto the line with both hands instead and yanking backwards. Vincent hits the ledge of the roof hard, fingers scrambling for purchase as they try not to slip in the rain. Leo almost instinctively grabs his arm and hauls him up, finally breathing. He didn’t realize how loud the blood was rushing in his ears until he was sure Vincent wasn’t about to bite it.

He locks eyes with Vincent still on the ground and feels his chest tighten at the terror written across his features. They’re fucking deep in it now. Mr. Overthinker looks scared as hell.  
  
Vincent leaps to his feet and his mouth gapes like he’s struggling to say something, when another gunshot flies past them. Lodging itself into the cement by their feet. Whatever it was Leo hopes it can wait, because it looks like it’ll have to.  
  
There’s a glass skylight. They share a brief glance before jumping through together and shattering it. They hit the ground running as more shots fill the warehouse they’ve just fallen a story into. Leo feels his heart beating in his throat when one whizzes by him. They bust down door after door, eventually reaching outside the building to the edges of the woods. He gratefully notes that the storm has gotten heavier, the sounds of thunder and rainfall masking their careful trek through the mud and underbrush.  
  
The woods eventually narrow out to a vague path wrapping around a cliff, overlooking a significant drop to a wide river below them and a bridge sitting pretty in the distance. A chopper flies overhead. Vincent visibly flinches.

“Shit, they’ve got helicopters out for us?”

“Ha, kinda makes you feel like we’re some VIPs don’t it?”

“Some very idiotic prisoners?”

Leo laughs at that, genuinely. Right now everything feels hilarious. Including the aching in his legs and the slightly singed skin of his hands. He tries not to wonder why it doesn’t hurt more, hoping if he ignores the possibility he’s killed some nerve endings it’ll make it less true. He also tries not to look at it, just in general.

They don’t stop moving, and eventually they reach the bridgeside. Uneven rocky ground meeting a carefully constructed concrete platform leading up to the street. Vincent pokes his head over the ledge, and in a half second turns back to face Leo.

“Two guards right above.”

Leo cracks a smile. Vincent frowns.

“You take left and I’ll take right.”

They hop up in unison, equally silent as they shoot each other a quick affirmative glance and then wrap an arm around their respective guard’s necks. It’s a smooth as hell takedown, and Leo can’t help but stare at Vincent while he does it.

Yeah okay, not really the time to be thinking about it. But Vincent is a really fucking weird person. Seeing him fight is, damn. Always something else. And then he gets all flustered afterwards, even now, like he’s so worried about actually hurting someone. If Leo hadn’t seen Vincent in action himself he wouldn’t believe he’s ever thrown a fist in his life. It’s unfair, this stoic and kind exterior with a penchant for takedowns.

He looks out across the bridge, tongue clicking as he sees it littered with cop cars just waiting for them to show their faces. Of course they’d be here, it’s the only way across the river within a dozen miles of the jail. There’s a cop standing outside his vehicle about 40 feet away, the next car pretty far off from him.  

Vincent is eyeing some shit near the liftgate office and they start talking at the same time.

“Let’s take that cop out and use his car-”

“There’s a gap in the fence, let’s go under-”

Leo’s face pales. Vincent frowns again.

“We are not taking out a cop. We’d get shot within seconds of crossing, the bridge is covered with them.”

“Or we fall to our deaths in the water.”

Vincent rolls his eyes and Leo tries to not get indignant about it. He fails.

“I don’t like heights, man.”

“There’s maintenance catwalks under there, we’ll be fine.”

Leo more-than-reluctantly follows Vincent through a gap in the fence leading to said catwalks. He looks out over the severe drop below him, and feels his stomach turn for the hundredth time in the last hour.

* * *

Vincent was expecting this to be hard. They were breaking out of fucking prison, as a rule that’s challenging at best and he hadn’t expected any of it to be easy.

But for fucks sake, did everything have to just keep being _difficult?_

Leo grabbed his arm and helped his dangling form up from the snapped catwalk platform. Second time he’s broken something today. He knew he wasn’t exactly a tiny man but this is getting ridiculous. He barely felt panicked this time, grabbing at the grates with an almost mechanical instinct as Leo promptly lost his shit in worry, helping him up despite the dubious stability of the platform. And his selectively aware fear of heights.  

All of which he really can’t, there’s isn’t any reason, he just…

Fuck.

He doesn’t get it. He just doesn’t fucking get it. And for the half second he lets himself think about what happened up there on the roof, he feels something between anger and confusion flood his senses. He throws the thought to the side before his brain starts screaming on loop about how much he just doesn’t _fucking_ _get it._

He’s pretty sure he hears Leo asks if he’s okay and his mouth responds on its own while he quells a flaring mental crisis.

They reach a dead end. The only method of continuing forward is a thin handful of pipes hanging by the some wires and metal poles from the bridges underbelly. Absolutely nothing underneath but a drop into the choppy water below. Leo takes one look at it and immediately shakes his head, backing up.

“Ha, no way in hell. I’ve done a lot of stupid shit today, I’m good.”

“Oh you wanna turn back? Get all comfy in your brand new cell in solitary?”

“Man fuck you, shit is rusted as hell. I don’t trust it.”

Vincent actively fights the urge to roll his eyes. Leo is just scared again, and that’s fine. Usually just offering a plan that makes sense seems to calm him down, so he lays it out for him.

“I’ll go first, I’ll grab onto these,” Vincent gestures to the closest set of poles holding up the pipes, “You grab my hand and walk across to the ones on the far side. Then you help me over.”

Leo looks like he’s about to either throw a fit or throw up, his face twisting up and eyes drifting to the drop again. Vincent takes a step onto the piping, reaching for the metal poles and wrapping himself around them. He holds out a hand to Leo, offering as inviting and comforting a look as he can. Leo is frozen like a deer in headlights, but he moves, taking the hand and carefully, oh so carefully, walking around where Vincent’s feet stood stock still. He lets out a shaking breath as he avoids looking down, hands wrapped around the same pole in a grip so tight it might just bend the thin metal.

He’s so scared, god, it almost hurts to see it.

Vincent’s feels his expression grow soft.

“Hey Leo, it’s okay. We’re gonna be okay, you hear? Stay with me man.”

“I, uh, yeah. Yeah I’m fine. It’s all,” Leo’s gaze accidentally drifts downwards, “Fuck we’re high. We are really really high.”

“I know I know, so I’m gonna walk across first instead. You just have to hold out your arm for me while I go over.”

Leo can’t seem to vocalize again, so he just nods. Vincent moves, the iron-grip on his wrist not going unnoticed as he tightrope-walks across the thin piping. There’s a brief moment where the distance is too great, and he has to wrench his arm out of Leo’s grasp to make it, but he reaches the other set of support poles easily.  

He offers a hand again, and he hears the terrified man breathe out hard. Leo steps out as far as he can without letting go of his own supports, snatching Vincent’s hand before his feet is even really under him. They wrap around the second set together, and Vincent helps him back onto the grating once more.

“See? Easy. Couldn’t even tell you were scared.”

“I wasn’t scared asshole. I just. I don’t like heights.” Leo doesn’t look at him when he says that. Vincent tries not laugh.

“Yeah? Let’s hope that’s the last of it for today then, I’m getting tired of them too.”

They see it at the same time, the light in the distance approaching fast as a helicopter drops into sight. They slam up against some paneling just in time, searchlight flooding the area around them as they pressed up against the barrier together. The light just hovers there, and Vincent ignores the grasp on his wrist that lingers for a moment too long after the chopper passes.

They get out from under the bridge. Leo all but kisses the solid ground. For the most part they’re in the clear where they are, just one guard on the roof of a small outpost. Small enough Vincent easily gives Leo a boost to the top so he can just take care of it. Part of him is grateful he doesn’t see it, witnessing Leo bring people down always makes him feel odd. He thinks it’s a vague shade of horror, and he also doesn’t unpack that now. Leo continues to be as unreasonable as humans come and Vincent is just going to keep ignoring it.

A voice shouts from above. Fuck, that’s not Leo.

“Officer down, Quadrant C. Suspect apprehended. Requesting backup.”

Vincent’s legs move on their own accord, dashing to the other side of the outpost. He scales a ladder to the roof in nearly record time as he sizes up the situation.

One guard, gun drawn. Leo is on the ground complying.

He doesn’t think, he just moves. He grabs the guard’s arm and they struggle, shots firing off into the sky until the gun clicked empty. He slams his knee into their face hard, the resounding crunch rivaling the echoes the of the gunshots. Leo stands up, firing a quick thank you when the sound of dogs get way too close way too fast. Vincent says it first.

“Fuck, run.”

They jump off the roof of the outpost, falling into a sprint as a pair of police dogs follow close behind. Vincent resists the urge to look back as the number of dogs potentially in question seems to only increase the further they run. He spares a glance at Leo, expression wide and afraid. His vision is intercepted by the body of a large german shepherd leaping way to close, and Vincent dodges out of the way. He looks to his side again as the dog slides into a tree and restarts his chase, but Leo is gone. He must have taken another path down, reasonably he can’t have gone far. He’s probably fine. There’s no way he could have captured in that time. It’s only been a few seconds.

Worry overcomes him almost instantly, he has to know.

“You still there?”

He’s met with a tense silence before a pissed-off voice calls back out.

“Where the fuck else would I be?”

Vincent shakes his head and lets out a humorless laugh as a trio of dogs viciously bark and growl behind them.

“Couldn’t see you, still don’t actually,” Vincent vaults over a fallen tree. Leo still finds the time to complain.

“Fucking dogs man, are you serious?”

“Focus on running.”

“Can’t do anything else!”

Vincent’s eyes dart to the path ahead. He thinks he sees a small gap to a lower part of the terrain, when he realizes it’s a much steeper drop and a large leap across a ravine. He more or less falls into a muddy slide down as he calls out in warning behind him.

“Brace yourself the fall sneaks up on you!”

“The _WHAT_.”

Vincent is shielding himself with his arms as he slides uncontrollably further and further down, just trying not to smash his head on the rocks whizzing by. He hears Leo fight off a dog at the top of the cliff but doesn’t have time to think about it. The ledge is approaching faster and faster but gravity alone won’t cover the distance, he’ll have to time his kick-off perfectly to make the jump.

Fucking shit.

The ledge hits the bottom of his feet and he leaps forward, airborne for a half moment as the ground disappears below him. The fear barely processes, only success as it appears once again. He hits the ground hard, rolling to a stop and immediately rushing to his feet to help Leo.

“You gotta jump, the slide alone won’t cut it.”

Leo’s face expresses nothing short of terror as he does just that, reaching the last few feet of the cliffside and maneuvers to bound off. His ankle twists, the jump isn’t good enough. Fuck fuck fuck he’s not gonna make it he’s not gonna make it-

“VINCENT.”

Time slows.

He leans over the edge of the cliff as far as he can, hands out and face pained and desperate. Leo’s eyes grow wide as he realizes he won’t make the jump, his own arms reaching out in front of him to grab onto Vincent’s. They lock eyes. Their hands connect. Vincent feels something violent and awake course through him and from the look on Leo’s face, he feels it too.

Time resumes. Vincent hauls him onto the ridge and solid ground, throwing Leo further away from the edges of ravine as he scrambles backwards himself. They sit up in the dirt, seeing the dogs bark at the top of the cliff in the distance. Leo looks at him dumbstruck, and Vincent imagines he looks the same. He feels the same. His mouth doesn’t work, he can’t figure out how to say anything at all.

So he doesn’t. And they run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S P O I L E R S F O R T H E G A M E A H E A D
> 
> Thanks again for all your excitement I'm really glad someone out there is actually reading my dumpster fire words. For real comments and kudos make my fucking day you guys are so nice!! What the fuck!!
> 
> Fun fact: halfway through writing this I was trying to describe Leo shooting a quick look at Vincent and my hands wrote: “Leo shoots Vincefuck wait.”


	4. All Our Time Together Is Tearing Me Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yo Vincent, you feeling alright there buddy?”
> 
> He can’t help it.
> 
> “Why the hell did you do that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my shortest chapter inarguably took the longest to write. things got kinda real in my actual life so sorry for the maaajor delay, hopefully moving forward I can write more often because I finally cracked the endgame for this. tags on the fic changed again <3

The morning is beautiful. His legs hurt like hell, Vincent has no idea how he’s still standing, and by all accounts, he should have been dead seven times over. Both him and Leo. But the breeze is light, the sun is warm, and the morning is beautiful.

They kept running for hours, only stopping to catch their breaths every so often. They must have been miles from the prison by now, and they haven’t seen any semblance of law enforcement since they jumped the ravine. He can’t tell if that’s a good sign or not. He’s having trouble picking apart a lot of things right now.

Vincent, from the beginning, had a mission to finish. Break out, kill Harvey, go home. If he didn’t think he could stomach the task he would have been able to get out it. He could have called his commanding officer and be gone the next day.

He’s glad it didn’t come to that but unsure of much else. There was a warranted comfort in knowing Leo didn’t really seem to like killing and didn’t make a habit of it. But he was always ready to. Always willing to. He’s never said it in as many words, violence definitely came easier to Leo than conversation, but it was obvious.

Obvious and confusing. Morality in a glass case.

They stand together at the top of an incline, just taking in the view of an endless forest below them. It’s a nice moment of silence and serenity he doesn’t remember the last time he’s had. Leo doesn’t break it, and Vincent almost wishes that he would. He doesn’t dwell on it. Again.

They head down a trail to a campsite someone left behind. No real supplies or anything, but an old sleeping bag and a fire pit. A pond with a small waterfall flowing down the rocks. A rusted army knife, some logs. Kinda paltry, if he’s being honest, but Leo smiled at the sight. He excitedly jabbed Vincent in the shoulder, which, ow, and already talking about spearing some fish for dinner.  
  
Leo grabbed the knife from the stump and started carving his way a weapon, wading into the water shortly after and chasing a small school of trout like an idiot. Vincent just sat and watched, carving a spear for himself as Leo ran around the pond in circles. He couldn’t help laughing, it was like seeing a kid on his first camping trip.

Leo paused his step, raising his spear high, poised to strike as a few fish grew closer. He looked so concentrated. Brows furrowed, breathing quiet, fingers tapping the side of the spear. A breeze carried through the trees and some light shone through to their little hideout, better illuminating the calm water. Vincent felt his breath stutter.

Leo stood stock still, morning glow highlighting the edges of his face. His shirt rose standing like this, exposing slivers of tanned skin along his sides and stomach. There are some scars littered there, dark marks and old lines leading down into the hem of his prison slacks. A much deeper scar above his hip, just barely poking out. It seemed out of place. Where did he get that from?

Leo’s eyes widened as he saw when he must have been waiting for. He strikes at the same time Vincent feels a sharp pain shoot through his hand. He looks down to see he’s whittled away the edge of his spear entirely, and sliced into his thumb. Not bad, but there. He must have still been carving at it while he got distracted. Staring at Leo.

Who lifted his prize in the air unreasonably proud.

“Hell yeah! I’m a natural baby!”

Vincent forced a laugh at the outburst, resharpening the edge of his spear before walking into the small pond. He dips his hand in the water, the bleeding stopping on its own soon enough. His face is warm. The hair of his arms are standing on end. It takes him a few tries to catch his own fish, focus absent.

They ate in the calm and quiet, the distant sound of birds and crickets filling the void. The sun set quickly after their less-than-satisfying dinner, fire flickering brightly as they swapped camping stories from their childhood. Vincent is unsurprised to find Leo regularly attended wild parties in the middle of abandoned campgrounds, a thrill seeker since childhood.

Vincent is surprised to hear that Leo is an orphan. Not surprised by the information, but that he told him. He was throwing some more twigs into the fire at the time but he freezes up when Leo spits it out, as much dated fury behind the phrase as someone could possibly have. A spite that must have followed him his entire life and flashes so clear across his face it does something funny to his chest.

Vincent tries not to sound pitying, he’s sure Leo’s had enough of that.

“I imagine it wasn’t easy.”

“Eh, just how it is, right?” Leo looks off distantly as he scooches closer to the fire. He’s silent for a moment, contemplative. It’s a strange look on Leo but Vincent can tell he’s trying to figure out how to say something.

It’s a few more moments of that. Vincent doesn’t really move from his spot, holding his cold hands up to the flames. Somehow believing if he doesn’t move then whatever Leo has to say will matter less. Leo leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and just on instinct, Vincent feels something next to worry.

“Vincent, I’m gonna need to know what your deal with Harvey is before we do anything else. You told me some back in prison, and I didn’t know you all that much so I didn’t wanna poke at it.” Leo sighs. “But I’m gonna need to know now.”

Admittedly, he saw this coming. In fact, he very specifically prepared for when this would come up. And maybe originally the story was supposed to feel a lot easier to tell because half of it was still true. Harvey killed his brother, and it was Vincent’s fault. That he blames himself for it, that he’s always going to blame himself for it.

And Leo doesn’t say anything, he just listens. Vincent finds himself just barely holding back any semblance of tears by the end of it. And it’s silent.

“What was his name?”

Leo’s eyes are serious, sympathetic. Morose. Vincent reels.

“Gary,” He whispers, small, like a prayer.

Leo threw some more twigs into the fire.

“We’re going to kill Harvey,” Leo states matter-of-factly, crossing his arms.

“For everyone he’s ever hurt. For me, for you. For Linda, Alex, Carol.”

He stands up, patting Vincent’s shoulder and looking off, deeper into the forest.

“For Gary. We’re gonna take him out of this world so he never does what he did to us again.”

It’s silent again but it's because Vincent is still reeling. Topic change. Now. 

“What did he do to you?”

Leo’s face fell, from that of a determined adventurer to one of a man who lost everything. Not the best segue, admittedly. 

“Better question is what that fucker didn’t do.” Leo looked down at his hands, voice even and nothing short of disappointed, and regretful. Mournful.

“Him and me were partners in everything, but I didn’t sign up for a lot of the shit that landed me here. Didn’t sign up to get left to the dogs. Or my life screwed over by a smooth bastard in a tacky button-up.” Leo’s hand drifted to over his hip, where the scar from earlier was.

Vincent had so many questions they were nearly boiling over and out of him. This was new. He wasn’t told the specifics of any of this. How the fuck did he get that scar?

“I’m sorry-“

“Yea well, you didn’t do it.” Leo cut him off and moved his hand away from the spot. Whether it was a conscious decision or not, asking about it now might be further callous and provoking. It suddenly burned at Vincent, not knowing. But he’d only just made that mistake. Another time then.

“Did Linda and Alex know about Harvey?” He tried to be gentle, “When you worked together?”

“Linda knew, I tell her everything. It was always us against the world. Heh, she probably knew before I did, she always does.” Leo half smiled at her name, “Alex though, he thinks I’m in Italy right now. I’ve gotta be a role model for him, and I’ve been doing such a shit job.”

Leo wouldn’t look at him. Vincent felt sick.

Leo Caruso’s file was straightforward and left little empathy. Crime record dating back to his teenage years. Orphan. Temperamental by nature and aggressive by choice. Accomplice to the most sadistic crime lord and murderer this hemisphere. An all-around classic criminal safely locked up and away from society. It was one-dimensional, but above that, an underestimation.

Because Leo didn’t leave him when the line snapped. Vincent couldn’t forget this if he tried, and he did. He tried real damn hard. Because Leo was supposed to stay one-dimensional. It made the rest of everything else easy. But he didn’t leave when he could have. He didn’t run when it would have made sense to. Leo’s made up of so much more than his stupid, stupid, file, and Vincent is in freefall.

There wasn’t anything on Leo’s fear of heights. Or how he doesn’t like needles. Or how he can hold the attention of a whole roof of strangers on his charisma alone. How he doesn’t realize dumb things like hopping into laundry carts is funny when you’re a grown-ass man or a how a flashlight might be nice when it’s pitch black. How when he does something like catch a fish for dinner he smiles like he’s won the day. How everything he feels is always written all over his face or how Leo had a partner he adores or a kid he loves just as much, how Leo is so, he’s just so-

“Yo Vincent, you feeling alright there buddy?”

He can’t help it.

“Why the hell did you do that?” Vincent feels his face grow warm, “Why did you stick around?”

Leo’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. It’s six solid seconds of wide-eyed staring when it clicks.

“You mean when _the line broke_?” Head tilt accenting the last few words as if he couldn’t get any more cartoon-like.

“They were openly firing at us. What the fuck were you doing?”

Vincent wasn’t trying to be antagonistic, but he was suddenly very, very angry. Leo’s mouth gaped as his brain was clearly still trying to catch up with him.

“Pretty sure I was saving your goddamn life!” Leo spits out, accosted and confused all in one.

“You could, you should have just, they were-“ Vincent’s sentence morphs into a frustrated line of half-spoken sounds before he manages to form the thought. “You could have left and you‘d have been free. Why the fuck did you stay?”  
  
Leo’s face screws up, eyebrows pinched as he stands and jabs a finger into Vincent’s chest.  
  
“Well, why the fuck did you stay? I coulda made that jump my damn fucking self-”

“No you fucking couldn’t-”

 _“I sure as fuck could have_ ,” Vincent feels the pair of hands shove at his shoulders hard before he even sees Leo move. Vincent doesn’t quite catch his step, knees connecting with the ground and hands digging into the dirt. He feels like his whole body is on fire. Leo stood over him looking ethereally pissed off, shouting back.

“Why the hell were you standing there waiting when you coulda ran too?”

_“Because it’s-“_

Vincent can’t help it when his chest tightens. The words die in his throat, tongue numb in his mouth.  
  
Because it’s his job?

Vincent looks anywhere but at Leo, who kneels down and grabs him by the shirt collar. There’s no real heat behind it, just keeping him close. Demanding and confused. Hurt. He’s hurt.

“Well?”  
  
Because he’s supposed to? Was that really still why?  
  
He locks eyes with Leo, who refuses to move or say anything, just daring him to answer in damning silence. Vincent’s breathing is heavy as he swallows hard, trying again.  
  
“Because I wanted to.”  
  
Leo's eyes are still wide, searching and lost. Expression slowing falling into something simply unbuilt. He untangles his fist from Vincent’s shirt, awkwardly smoothing out the wrinkles.  
  
“Well. Me too.” His voice hitches, and he lets out a shaky breath. “I wasn’t, I wasn’t gonna just leave you.”  
  
Vincent feels something stab at his insides and he tries to shove it down. He tries to shove it so far down it’ll never see the sun again because that’s not fair. He was ready for so many shitty scenarios when getting involved with this mission.  
  
“You could have.”  
  
Leo just stares at him hard, looking for anything in his features but Vincent knows his expression is blank. He braces himself for anything, a swing, for Leo to start yelling again, but none of that comes.  
  
“No, I really don’t think so.”  
  
Vincent feels that violent something inside of him clawing at the walls until it’s flooding out of him. What he’s been ignoring for weeks. Guilt rearing its ugly and unforgiving head. And it comes in the form of Leo’s eyes. Kind, understanding. Soft even. Leo broke eye contact, glancing at Vincent’s mouth and back up again with a dark expression. Breathing heavy, perfectly still.

Vincent wondered if he looked just as disheveled himself. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t think that he can.  
  
And then it’s gone. Leo’s shoulders are tense as he lets out an awkward laugh and suddenly the grass must be incredibly interesting to him. It never happened.  
  
“So uh, are we, are we cool?”  
  
Vincent can’t just ignore this anymore. He’s here now, and they’ve got a long way to go.

“Yeah, yeah we’re cool.”

* * *

Leo went for a long, _long_ walk after that argument. Was it an argument? He honest to god had no idea. Better question, where the fuck did _that_ come from?

He’s been wrestling with the idea that Vincent’s going through some gay panic for a while now. Leo’s no Adonis, but he’s pretty damn aware. He’s used those powers before on less iron-willed people. Which is kinda the issue. Vincent is impossible.

One second his eyes are eating up Leo standing too long in the sunlight, the next he’s starting fights over shit he should be thanking him for. And alright, maybe Leo’s been playing a little dirty. He’ll concede to that. But he just keeps thinking he’s reading the signals right and then being proven wrong. And he swears he’d back off if Vincent could just stop staring, it’s just hard to think about much else when he’s always, always staring. With that dumb confused face. That dumb, attractive, rugged…

Leo groans and kicks a rock far down the mossy path, digging his palms into his eye sockets.

Why the fuck didn't he do it. Vincent was all frozen, probably just waiting for it. It would have been so fucking easy. Leo could have leaned in and kissed him and maybe whatever dumb shit Vincent’s been dealing with would have sorted itself out. Worst case scenario would have been Vincent telling him to fuck right off, which he’s already kinda been doing. Leo wouldn’t have lost anything. Maybe some pride, but he’s not some kinda lovesick kid. It’s not like his feelings were gonna get all hurt.

Leo sighs, kicking another rock with much less force.

Alright, fine. Maybe they just kinda did.

He knows why he didn’t do it. Leo doesn’t know Carol for shit, and just because Vincent doesn’t know where he stands with her doesn’t mean Leo gets just make those choices for him, for them. Fuck does he want to, but he can’t. Not everyone is like Leo and Linda, gets hard to remember that sometimes. The fight was weird, the impulse was nearly unstoppable, but he’ll get over it. He’s just gonna have to. They’ve got no idea where Harvey’s at right now, chances are they’ll be stuck together for a little while.

And on that note: fuck Harvey. His hand absently goes to the scar on his hip, and just on instinct, he winces. He hasn’t thought about it in a while. Never really came up in prison. Everyone’s got scars, no one asks. He was allowed to not think about it. But Vincent spotting it brought back more than Leo was hoping for.

He starts feeling those ghost pains again, cut was fucking deep. Leo shivers as a stiff wind blows down the path, trees air tunneling it straight through to his bones. He couldn’t tell if the shiver was really from the cold or from the memory that lights up like a neon sign.

Leo feels pinpricks form but there's no tears. It’s like his body is sad for him because his brain can’t keep up, can’t actually take apart what he feels. He tries to think of Linda and Alex instead. It doesn’t quite work.

He remembers coming home to her after it happened, dried blood clinging his shirt to his stomach as he limped inside, while Alex slept just upstairs. Not exactly like he could visit a hospital at the time. She patched him up and demanded answers he couldn’t give. But he didn’t really have to tell her, he knew she would just know.

She tore into him for it, talking about what Alex would do if Leo let himself get real hurt next time. How Harvey wasn’t good for him like Leo didn’t already know. How she was gonna go find Harvey and kick his fucking ass. Man, what Leo did to deserve her he’ll never understand.

But the next day she dropped it. Maybe she knew she couldn’t change his mind.  

The Black Orlov heist was gonna set them up for life. No more crawling around the shittiest parts of town doing mob jobs for dinner. No more sleeping with assholes for cash or robbing houses or stealing cars. No more packing up in the middle of the night and skipping town. No more of any of it, for both of them. For Alex.

It took a lot for Harvey to trust Leo with the case, he had a dozen henchmen he could have picked from and Leo made sure to keep coming out on top. The approval was dire. The validation was dire. Leo would do what whatever he had to deserve it. Not just earn it, deserve it.

And Harvey saw that. Even said Leo’s ruthlessness was what he liked about him. So he just kept taking. And Leo just let him take, and take, and take...

He’s gonna kill the shit out of that bastard. Not just for Linda and Alex, but for his damn self.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments make my day, even if its just a keysmash


	5. I Fear Rivers Overflowin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ll take that bet."
> 
> Fucking hell. Oh sweet fucking hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got a little out of hand but I'm happy with it. Sorry it took me a literal month to get to. That's always the prob, don't have time to write so I don't. The second I get a few hours to do fuckall, I bang whole chapters out in a single sitting. Anyways, enjoy!

Leo’s not really sure if Russia heard the crash or not, but by his guess it was loud enough to scare the horses into running for probably the next ten years. Vincent jumped at the sound too, the cement mixer now broken into several pieces on the barn floor. Maybe it was overkill.

He glances out the second story window to see the old couple waddling after the escaped horses far down the road. He can’t help but smile at it.

They get an old truck up and running outside incase they have to make an immediate exit, and then they head towards the house for new clothes. It’s enough that they smell like inmates, they can’t really afford to look like it too. Leo finds himself gazing at the shower mournfully as he passes by a bathroom. Definitely no time, but the grit in his hair is starting to itch.

Vincent’s off looking for a bedroom where hopefully therein lies a closet. Well, maybe it couldn’t hurt to take a second to fix himself.

He splashes his face with cold water and it’s instantly refreshing. He swipes a comb off the sinktop and wets it, running it through his hair. Water trails down his face, and he moves to pat it dry when his peripheral catches movement in the hall. On realizing what it was, he pretends not to have noticed.

Vincent’s just standing there. Staring again. Maybe Leo should just start appending the word, “Staring,” after every time his brain mentions Vincent. Considering that’s all he ever does. Leo smirks in the mirror as he pats the water off of his face and hangs up the hand towel again. He can practically hear Linda laughing at him again. But c’mon, this ones gonna be so mild it can’t really count as playing dirty.

He runs his hands through his hair so strands are hanging into his face just so, enough to make him look disheveled in a good way. His hands trace the shadow pricking across his chin as he observes the uneven shave in the mirror, briefly debating picking up the old man’s straight razor just to get rid of the nuisance. He plays up the debate, reaching for the razor before sticking out his tongue in mock disgust. His hand trails down to his neck, feeling back up to the stubble across his jawline. 

He runs a hand over his cheeks again before poking a thumb between his teeth. He bites down on it hard, pulling at his bottom lip in just casual, mindless, nonsexual contemplation, and Vincent bursts out into a fit of coughs. It takes every ounce of Leo trying his damnedest to not bowl over laughing. He fakes surprise and tries so hard to swallow down the smile, but he’s certain he’s failing.

“Oh hey, Vincent. You find anything?”

Vincent isn’t meeting his eyes. Oh god, that’s rich. Leo crosses his arms and leans against the sink as redness slowly reaches the ends of Vincent’s ears. Adorable, really.

Leo’s been looking for the words to describe Vincent. Aside from, "Number One Person Leo Would Love To Fuck Today". He’s a handsome man, and an easier tease. But after the whole campsite fiasco Leo’s had some time to think.

Vincent’s a likable guy. He’s not an asshole and he’s smart. He’s got patience worthy of a Saint and a good sense of humor. Brave. Handsome. Great ass.

But, not the point. Vincent has Carol. As he's owned up to, that’s not something Leo’s got any place to make more complicated. A history of being the "Other man," is not one he enjoys having. 

Leo has Linda either way, and if Vincent is gonna make everything awkward and spend the rest of his life being vague and confused, that’s not really Leo’s problem. So yeah, maybe those are the words. Not his problem.

Keeps his own feelings from getting into the mix again and ruining the fun, which he’ll admit he kinda almost did. Dumb move, led to some fighting, got hurt, and now he’s figured it out. Won’t be an issue again.

But shit, teasing him is fun. That wasn’t even hard. Practically a game.

“I found a wardrobe down the hall,” Vincent mumbles, already taking off towards the room.

So mild it doesn’t even count.

* * *

New self-assessment. Vincent has reached his limit on ignoring things, and therefore notices everything about thirty times more intensely than before. He scrubs a hand down his face and groans.

Leo knew he was staring and blatantly ignored that information, carrying on with…whatever that was supposed to be. Leo was just so self-absorbed in the quiet, it was so domestic and strange when every time he’s seen Leo do anything remotely human it was in a concrete cage. It was easier to imagine him as a mindless criminal while they were literally, physically, running away from the law. He aligns being caught off-guard to the stark unfamiliarity, but the argument is weak.

Leo blindsides him and end of, it's unfortunate. In another life they would have been friends, deeply connected even, and he knows it. It's true even now, he can't deny that. Explains why pretending feels so easy. Why breaking out felt like a game. Why the silences are comfortable. Why Vincent genuinely enjoys his company. 

Something akin to deep and shattering disappointment bubbles up and fizzles out. The job first, as always. That still hasn't changed. But god, this sucks.  

Vincent sighs and walks out to the sound of banjo music downstairs, briefly wondering in a panic if the couple had come back already. A sour note plays out and so does a loud swear. Leo, then.

Time to pretend. Or, not.

He walks down the stairs to see Leo, rifle strapped to his back as he’s pressed against the window. Banjo in hands, slowly plucking out a melody. Grinning at him big, wide, and dumb. Vincent chuckles and leans up against the guardrail, crossing his arms.

“Ya’know we broke into this house right? On the run from the police and all that? Fugitives of the law?”

Leo points to the piano by his side, adjusting the pick on his finger.

“Know how to play?”

Vincent laughs and makes his way down the stairs, opening up the panel to reveal the keys and absently pressing at them.

“Used to, haven’t in a few months. Mostly just chords anyways.”

“Bad Moon Rising?” Leo raised an eyebrow and Vincent grinned, cracking his knuckles.

“Well shit Leo I wasn’t born yesterday.” He hears Leo laugh as he starts picking away at the tune, and almost effortlessly Vincent drops in. The song isn’t that old, three years give or take. Vincent used to play it all the time when he was home more often. Which, damn.

He hasn’t been ignoring what happened with Carol, in fact it usually just worms it’s way to the front of his mind and then suddenly he’s drilling over what the next thing he should say to her might be. Admittedly for the first few months he did everything to ignore it, case and point - he’s here now. After the argument he had with Leo at the campsite, Vincent’s wondering if he can think himself into a grave over someone who isn’t even there.

But Leo starts humming to the tune of the verse, and Vincent finds himself making a mental choice. He can think about it later. The lyrics bubble out of Vincent, and Leo flashes him a surprised smile.

 _“Don’t go round tonight,_  
_it’s bound to take your life._  
_There’s a bad moon on the rise…”_

Leo grates out the next verse himself, singing voice actually kinda impressive. Who knew? His hands fly over the keys as he just watches Leo sing and pluck away, nose crinkling at his own forced southern cadence.

 _“I hear hurricanes a-blowing_  
_I know the end is coming soon_  
_I fear rivers over flowing_  
_I hear the voice of rage and ruin.”_

Vincent laughs when Leo feigns an over dramatic face of fear. He plays an overly-elaborate lead and Vincent joins in again. Leo's beaming a grin so wide it might break his face, eyes practically glowing. Vincent laughs halfway into the lines, giving in to how light he feels.

 _“Don't go 'round tonight_  
_It's bound to take your life_  
_There's a bad moon on the rise.”_

They whoop and holler at the end of that one, cheering the other on as they get increasingly fancy during the little break. Leo is kicking his feet out from his little perch, looking every bit the picture of someone beyond carefree. His hair is still a little wet, and the sun shining through the window lights him up even more than he already was. Laugh lines creasing at the edges of his eyes and cheeks. Vincent thinks the word beautiful before he registers it, leading into the next verse, fingers stuttering for just a second. Leo bows his head in a simple, “ _All yours,_ ” gesture for this one, and Vincent just takes to it, happy to move past that thought. 

 _“I hope you got your things together_  
_I hope you are quite prepared to die_  
_Look's like we're in for nasty weather_  
_One eye is taken for an eye.”_

He turns back to face Leo and freezes. Leo is biting his lip as Vincent finishes the verse, giving the most unsubtle once-over Vincent’s ever been victim to in his life. His voice catches in his throat as Leo keeps singing without him, keeping his eyes locked with Vincent’s the entire time. Is he singing lower? 

 _“Oh don't go 'round tonight_  
_It's bound to take your life_  
_There's a bad moon on the rise_  
_There's a bad moon on the rise.”_

Vincent prods at the chords for a few more measures when Leo ends their melody in a dramatic flourish, but Vincent’s not looking at the keys. Leo’s not looking at the banjo anymore, in fact, he’s put it to the side already. Leo smirks as Vincent shakily closes the piano’s panel. He steps closer, hip-bumping Vincent into looking up at him.

“Not bad Fogerty, didn’t think you knew how to have that much fun.”

“Sometimes I like cutting loose, haven’t in a while,” Vincent answers, honestly, trying to reel himself in, tonal shift physically giving him whiplash, “That was great, you were great.”

“I’m great at a lotta things,” Leo says, shrugging. Vincent shoves at him jokingly but it backfires, Leo grabs his wrist.

Leo leans in just slightly and Vincent shrinks back, now intimately aware of how close they’re standing. How Vincent has been backed up into the piano and how like this Leo just barely looms over him.

“Yeah I’ll bet you are,” Vincent says, a joke meant to sound sarcastic and coming out a lot breathier than he would have ever intended. Leo blanches and Vincent feels his face warm and a couple hundred things click at once.

Oh fuck. Not friends. 

“I’ll take that bet,” Leo smirks, leaning further into Vincent’s space.

Fucking hell. Oh sweet fucking hell.

“Well now I’m thinking it might be a rigged game,” Vincent staggers out, legs stubborn and unmoving.

Leo’s breathe is warm on his face. Vincent feels  his mind is reeling and heart pounding. If the house went up in flames around him he’s certain he wouldn’t notice.

Leo’s lips are practically hovering over Vincent’s mouth now, and his tone when he answers is just plain cruel. He lets go of Vincent’s wrist finally, and cages him in against the piano.

“I’m thinkin’ I like games.”

Something deep and pitiful inside Vincent summons a low, wanting whine from him. Leo’s eyes are blown wide and Vincent wonders if he looks as dismantled as he feels.

Leo’s just so fucking close. Vincent can’t fucking breathe. This is insane. What the fuck is he thinking? This is idiotic at best and dangerous at worst but his blood is rushing to his ears and Leo squares his hips up against Vincent’s and honestly fuck everything else. Leo’s eyelashes are too fucking long and Vincent can’t _fucking_ breath.

The sound of someone hastily loading a shotgun fills the room and Leo swings around, already drawing the rifle. Vincent is panting, horrified.

Fuck. The married couple.

“Who the hell are you?”

* * *

In Leo’s defense, Vincent is first and foremost, hot. He’s also basically a blushing teenager, and Leo’s only fucking human alright? He’s only human.

Leo pulls the trigger again into the glass of the police vehicle chasing them. They knocked the old man out and made a beeline for the truck, but the cops were already en route to the house. Leo’s been gunning them off their trail while Vincent’s been driving like an absolute idiot ever since. No idea where to, but as far away as they can get, the better.

Maybe this is just how it’s gonna be for the rest of their dumb adventure. Leo’s just gonna keep accidentally cornering Vincent because something about this uptight son-of-a-banker is undeniably magnetic, and Vincent is gonna have a small panic and sit there waiting until the universe figures out how to ruin a fucking perfect moment.

Leo unleashes a volley of shots into the next two cars a little more aggressively than need be. The herd of cop cars has thinned into just three. Still firing at him, but not all that much better an aim.

“You alright back there?” he hears Vincent call out. Leo laughs as he reloads his rifle and calls back.

“Just fuckin’ dandy…” Leo fires three more shots into a cop’s tires, who swerves off the road and into a tree. He flinches, just kinda on instinct. Pig probably deserves it.

They end up running into a road block and spinning back around, sliding into an alcove near the pebbled riverside. They shove a boat into the water and take off downstream, tense few minutes of paddling furiously to get away from land. Soon enough they’re alone, adrift in the river, just trying to catch their breath.

It’s then that Leo gets a good look at Vincent again, and the second they meet eyes they laugh so hard they’re both doubled over.

“That was insane,” Leo finally manages to get out.

“God if I’m never in another car chase like that again, it’ll be too soon,” Vincent says, leaning back against the bench. He pulls the oars out from the sides of their little dinghy, and they prop them over the edges. Vincent sits at the front of the boat, and Leo watches the tension just completely fall out of him. The water is calm, it’s beautiful out, and once again they’re not cautiously waiting for something to come find them.

Leo breathes in deep and exhales loud, to which Vincent lays down on the front bench, downright giggles and says, “I hear ya.”

It’s a mostly quiet float down the stream, Leo paddling absently when needed but otherwise, it’s peaceful. Vincent almost instantly fell asleep on the front bench. Leo's weak; he takes the chance to stare back for once. 

Vincent’s worry lines have worry lines. Eyebrows furrowed in concern even when he’s sleeping. Beauty mark perfectly dotted along his cheekbone. Hair slightly damp either from sweat or the spray. Beard still a little unkempt considering the last time it was taken care of was back in the prison.

Leo blinks at that. Shit, they’ve only really been out for four days. He looks to Vincent, thoroughly jarred. He thinks of them running for nearly a whole day. The campsite, them bonding over a terrible fish dinner. The argument. This morning, before the old man barged back in.

It feels like a lifetime.

This morning…

Leo sighs, trying his best to keep the bitter down. Vincent looked, in no uncertain terms, wrecked. All Leo had to do was give him a pair of PG-13 looks and Vincent was having trouble breathing. Man turned borderline asthmatic. Who let someone like that anywhere near criminals like Harvey? How the hell does a guy like that snag a wife in the first place?

How the fuck did Leo get himself into a hot mess like this one?

He digs his palms into his eyes with a frustrated groan, dropping them down into his lap with an unceremonious set of thuds. He glances back over to Vincent’s sleeping, perfect face. Hair pushed out of his eyes by the breeze, breathing shallow, face slack. Vincent lets out a small snore and Leo laughs.

It’d be so easy to love him, he notes, looking off across the water. He doesn't, but he could. And it would be easy. 

He expect panic to immediately follow that thought, but nothing of the sort comes. Leo wonders if that's a bad thing. Just this morning he was talking himself into thinking whatever flirtations between them don't mean anything. How he was playing games for the sake of having fun, never really expecting Vincent to do anything about it. He hadn't expected Vincent to freeze, to look so much like it was eating away at him. 

Leo's used to those looks, and they normally come just before heartbreak. But heartbreak would entail him getting his hopes up in the first place, which Leo admits very quickly got away from him and is now actively trying to clamp down on. 

Following his gut led him into Harvey’s manipulating hands, a mistake Leo’s unlikely to completely forget anytime soon. He winces as his hand shoots to his hip again, just rubbing at the scar uncomfortably.

He fucked up then. And since, he’s spent all this time tiptoeing around everyone else because he was afraid. People treat folks like him like shit, and he’s already on the offensive for very good reasons all the damn time. But Vincent…

He stares at the calm face again, he thinks of this morning. He thinks of the ravine, the rooftop. The duet. Leo sighs.

God he’s a fucking idiot. Vincent might not be his problem, but Leo definitely wants him to be. 

* * *

Vincent wakes up to a pair of hands shaking his shoulders, gentle swaying of the boat beneath him. The sun is setting, so he imagines he’s been asleep for a few hours at least, they left around noon. His eyes are bleary as he rubs at them, yawning.

“Rocks up ahead, I’m gonna need help moving through ‘em.”

Leo’s tone is off, Vincent takes a look downstream and figures out why. They’re cutting it a little close, Vincent grabs an oar and heads to the other side of the boat, helping course correct. It’s straight cruising for a little while, just a short dip downwards here and there.

Vincent hears the sound of rushing water in the distance and his heart drops; waterfall.

It goes to shit fast.

He tries to shove the oar between the boat and the rocks to propel them closer to land, and Leo wordlessly joins him, but the oars snap, and they rock further into the rapids. Leo is thrown into the side of the boat and he curses loud. Vincent grabbing onto the bench, steadying himself, wind rushing in his ears and terror slowly mounting. He looks to Leo rubbing his head, worry immediate.

“Shit, are you okay?”

Leo opens his mouth to answer, but the rapids careen them wideside into the rocks, and they both nearly fly out of the boat. Vincent’s boot gets caught underneath the bench and he slams back down into the floor, wind knocked out of him and shoulder searing with pain. He lets out a swear and reaches down to unstick his leg, but the boat veers again and his stomach flies up into his throat.

It slams through a rapid sideways, hard enough it bounces off of the water. Vincent hears Leo shout, but when Vincent looks up he’s alone. Vincent panics. Did Leo just fall into the fucking water?

The world is dizzying and his head is pounding, the vicious current the loudest sound in the world as he’s pressed against the floor. The hull is splintering beneath him as he digs his nails into the wood, gritting his teeth and forcing his own leverage. He slams his foot into the side of the bench and breaks it, freeing his other leg out from underneath it as he scrambles upright.

The first thing he does is scan the water for Leo, but he hears a voice call him along the shoreline. Leo must have bounced straight onto the river’s edge, as he’s running alongside the current.

Relief overcomes Vincent, but before he can get a word out or move, he’s slammed into the side. The boat’s front and end catch on a pair of boulders, and he’s dangling from his white-knuckled grip on the breaking wood. Over the edge of the waterfall. Fuck.

Vincent leans forward to grab further up the remains of the hull, but it crackles under him and the pieces fly off and far, far down. He tries again, finds a handhold, and keeps climbing up the damaged edges. He spares a glance to the cliffside.

Leo’s already there, reaching as far as he can go without tumbling into the water. Vincent feels the boat stutter and shake underneath him, and his heart drops. Leo’s shouting for him to get closer, the boats going to fall over and it’s gonna take him with it.

Vincent kicks off the edge. Time slows.

He’s airborne for half a moment. Leo wraps his hands around Vincent’s arm, and wrenches him backwards. He slams into Leo and they tumble, eventually sliding to a stop in the dirt.

The sound of their previous vessel crashing into the rocks below rings out. Leo stutters out a laugh underneath Vincent, who’s currently splayed out over him, and gripping the grass with pained hands. Vincent staggers a laugh too, pressing his forehead against Leo’s chest.

They lie there and just breathe, and Vincent felt…

Vincent didn’t want to think about how he felt. 

He looked back up at Leo, who’s sporting several cuts along his cheeks. Shallow, but there.

“You hurt?” Leo asked.

“No, you?”

Leo smiled. They matched eyes. Vincent was very close to his face. Close enough he could feel Leo’s breath. See his eyes widen hopefully. Hear his heart pounding. He thinks of this morning, and is suddenly intimately aware of every part of him touching Leo's skin.

He wanted to kiss Leo. Very badly. All of him just _wants_. 

And for a half moment, a moment so sharp and clear and wonderful, Vincent wants to tell Leo everything. 

Sheer and unyielding panic. Vincent scrambles up, like Leo’s physically burned him. His breathing hikes as he struggles to move in his drenched clothing. Too close. 

“Woah, Vincent, buddy you okay?”

Too close. Too fucking close. Fucking shit. Abortabortabort-

“I’m fine.” he snaps out. He doesn’t mean to. He immediately regrets it when Leo’s face screws up, hurt. Vincent doesn’t face him and stumbles backwards, ripping off his sopping wet jacket, anything to force distance.

“Hey, it’s okay if you’re shaken up-”

“I said I was fucking fine. Drop it.”

He wrings out his jacket, water puddling near his feet. He hears Leo click his tongue and Vincent feels sick.

“Fine. I’m gonna look for a somewhere to take a fucking nap,” Leo shoulders into Vincent’s back, walking past him, tone sharp.

Vincent’s mouth gapes as he struggles for something to say, but he couldn’t explain himself if he tried. He looks up at Leo’s retreating form, his hands gripping the leather jacket tight enough to tear. Leo doesn’t look at him when he yells back again, just pausing his stride.

“Oh, and you’re fucking welcome. Ya'know, for saving your goddamn life.”

And Leo’s gone.

Vincent counts to ten, fists his hands into his hair, and screams.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater both felt like exactly the right kind of ominous and was period-appropriate.  
> Even if you just keysmash me a comment I swear I'll use it as motivation to squeeze more freetime into my life. For sleep and for writing. Both of which I need to be happy. 
> 
> Also, if you're a registered AO3 user, I have an explicit fic up for these two called "Taking Root." Have fun <3


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